The Parade (ON HIATUS)
by Kookie The Bard
Summary: Acteon-9, Liam, and Audra saved what was left of humanity from so many threats. Now, in their Age of Triumph, what could possibly go wrong? (Sort of a drabble, discovery-writing experiment, long-form, D2 campaign retelling. See inside for more details.) One-shot for now, will be longer in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Intro_ : My semester of school is almost over, and I've been itching to really start writing again. I've been in a bit of a slump lately with it, and it's time for that to end... maybe. I sorta vomited up this bit here tonight and wanted to share it. I miss the feeling of having a long-running story that I update every once in a while (sometimes 'a while' is way too long; I'll try to avoid that). I've also felt lately that, while I like and long for the benefits of telling a story that has been outlined, I've found that a lot of my writing that I like the most has come from discovery writing.**

 **So... why not a taste of both?**

 **I was seriously disappointed in _Destiny 2_ 's story. So much potential, but such weak execution (in my opinion, at least). So at long last, I'm going to do something that I've been thinking of doing for a long time: write a long Destiny story! This will basically be a retelling of the D2 campaign. (Yep, another one of those.) Since I'm not really planning anything right now, I'm not sure how it will turn out. It might be cool, or it might be crap. I don't know yet, but that's kind of what makes it exciting. I obviously have a sort of roadmap as there is an existing story to base this off of, but I don't intend to keep things _too_ similar (the idea is, of course, to expand and improve on what we have now).**

 **So here we go. I look forward to this adventure and will do my best to keep the words flowing, the story interesting, and the update times short. If you read on, I hope you enjoy the story.**

 **And as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story. If you're feeling generous, leave me a review when you're finished. It would make my day.**

 **~Kookie**

The parade was more spectacular than Acteon-9 could have ever imagined. He hadn't often been in the streets of the Last City, but he imagined they hadn't seen festivity like this in a very long time. Streamers and confetti flew in the air, citizens shouted and applauded from the sides, ships flew in the air launching fireworks so bright that they were easily visible, even in the full daylight. And in the middle of it all, Guardians innumerable walked among them. Row by ordered row, each Guardian wore their most beautiful and ornate armor for today's celebration. Acteon himself wore a fine new set, colored white and blue, designed with sharp angular features, and adorned with the symbol of a snake on the cloak. _Eva outdid herself on this one_ , he thought.

" _You should actually tell her that next time you see her_ ," his Ghost, Reacher, whispered inside his head. " _I know you were thinking it when she gave it to you, but you didn't say anything!"_

" _Right right, I'll let her know sometime,"_ Acteon thought back. He absentmindedly gave a smile and wave to the crowd. A fellow Exo caught his eye whooped in praise. _This is nice,_ he thought, more to himself now. _Such a long, hard road we've been on… All leading up to this. If this joy, this peace, is the reward for the fight of the Guardians, then every bullet spent is worth it._

He caught the sound of a commotion from behind. He glanced back to see a Guardian in white and red armor stumbling his way through others around him in an effort to force his way forward. The Guardian-a Titan by the looks of it-burst out near Acteon and pulled up beside him, trying to shoulder aside the Warlock that had been next to Acteon as politely as possible. "Acteon!" the Titan said, clapping a hand to the Exo's back. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to find you in this mess."

Acteon could barely understand the words among all the commotion, but enough got through that he got the idea. "Why get up to me, Liam?" he asked his friend. "We agreed to meet later, didn't we?"

"Sure did, but that would be too late for me to do this!" Before he could protest, Acteon was lifted into the air and up to sit on Liam's broad shoulders. The Titan thrust a fist into the air and shouted louder than Acteon thought possible, "Three cheers for the Hivebane!"

 _Must you embarrass me like this…?_ Acteon thought. He took comfort in knowing that no one would probably even hear his friend's shouting. But… to his eternal shock, people actually _did_ take notice. Some of the shouting quieted and the crowd took up a rising chant.

"Hive _bane!_ Hive _bane!_ Hive _bane!_ "

 _Liam, I'm going to kill you when when this is over_.

" _That would be highly inefficient,"_ Reacher noted. _"We're really close to the Traveller; the Light is definitely strong enough here that he would revive within secon-"_

" _I know, it's-it's just a figure of speech_.Acteon was tempted to try to hide the grin that came to him, but he let it show. He so often hid such feelings when he was out, especially in crowds. But today… today he would _shine_. He smiled broadly and lifted his arms, waving to all around him. They were still shouting his nickname, the once Shaxx had coined for him. If he forced himself to look past the embarrassment of it all, the praise felt… _good._ He had been the one to defeat Oryx, hadn't he? At least in part. Sure, he had help from his Fireteam the first time; he wouldn't have lasted long in the war against the Taken without Liam and Audra at his side. The glory should hardly be his alone, but… he would allow himself this moment in the spotlight, even if it made him a bit uncomfortable.

Not too long after, the parade reached its end. A wide stage had been erected in this plaza with seats in front in the grass for the Guardians to sit in and row upon row of seats to the sides for the citizens. People piled into them as they made their way in to hear a speech from the Vanguard. Acteon watched them and there so many streaming in that he wondered if there would be enough space for all of them.

Soon enough, though, everyone was settled in. A few Guardians had to stand in the back, but they were still close enough that hearing wouldn't be an issue. Majestic music started playing in the newly installed loudspeakers and people cheered, then silenced as they awaited the Vanguard's arrival.

And finally… _they came_. The curtain was pulled back and Zavala, Cayde-6, Ikora Rey, and the Spear himself took to the stage. Zavala nodded humbly, Ikora gave a reasonable smile and a wave, the Speaker raised his arms and looked to the Traveler, whose form seemed to hang not too far from where they were. And Cayde… Cayde took in every bit of the attention from the crowd. He waved wildly, shouted greetings and thanks to the people, and flashed finger-guns in every direction. _Typical Cayde_ , Acteon thought. _Not trying to make much of a respectable name for Hunter's is he?_ While Acteon questioned the Hunter Vanguard's enthusiasm, the crowd seemed to love it. Not just the citizens, but several Guardians took to their feet and cheered Cayde on. Zavala finally had to come up and grab Cayde by the shoulder and haul him over to the middle of the stage, where a microphone had been set up. Zavala then took his seat beside Ikora and the Speaker, leaving Cayde front and center before the now-silent crowd.

 _Wait…_ Cayde _is giving the speech?_ Acteon thought. Everyone had been expecting _Zavala_ to be the one to give the parade speech. Big speeches were just… kind of Zavala's thing, but _definitely_ not Cayde's…

Cayde cleared his throat before the microphone. "This thing on?" he said into the mic. The resonance of his voice across the open space was answer enough to all. "Right… Well, welcome everyone! How did you like the parade?" More cheering. "I thought so too. And how about those classy Guardians? Pretty great, am I right?" More applause. Cayde laughed. Acteon sensed not just humor and the thrill of the moment, but… real _pride_ in Cayde. The Hunter Vanguard was truly proud of how far the City had come. "You all probably know me well enough to know that I'm not really one for speeches. I'm more the shooty-shooty, stabby-stabby type. But today is a special day, this time is a special time.

"You know, my old mentor, Andal Brask, used to tell me, 'Cayde, I really wish you'd stop eating ramen for two seconds and go clear out those damn Fallen in the Cosmodrome like I asked you to three weeks ago!'" This got a chuckle from the crowd. "Brask was a great man, and if he taught me anything, it's that you have to balance your shooty-shooty habits with your ramen-slurping habits. And our Guardians have been doing a _lot_ of shooting. Like, so much that I can't believe we can keep the ammo flowing fast enough. But now… now it's all done. Our greatest enemies have been defeated, and you know that means…" He paused for a moment, letting some tension build. _Here comes a joke…_ Acteon thought.

Cayde seemed to wait a second too long. Too long for a dramatic pause, more like a… hesitation. Cayde-6 did _not_ hesitate… did he? "It means," he said, "it's time to enjoy the peace that our Guardians' efforts have won us. They have given their lives time and time again for a _chance_ at peace, and look what we have… I bet if the Traveller had a giant face on it, it would be smiling right now. This is our Age of Triumph… So let's enjoy it. Today, no Guardian goes into the field. No weapon shall be fired, no Light shall be expended." An excited murmur started in the crowd. Acteon found himself smiling again. Cayde continued, gaining energy, "No Guardian will die today, and no Guardian will feel the crushing weight of Darkness! Because today, the Darkness has been driven back and we are safe, thanks to them. Today, we stand in the Light _together,_ Guardian and citizen, and _celebrate_!"

Every single person gathered took to their feet and roared their approval. Acteon couldn't help but feel excited. A day where no Guardian would be out on patrol… Such a thing was unheard of. There was usually some sort of threat in the system, but… surely it wouldn't hurt for them all to rest today.

This was their time. Best enjoy it while it lasted.


	2. Update

My feelings on this story have changed.

I originally planned for this to be a long-running story written through discovery. After writing the first chapter and going through my ideas, I no longer feel confident doing that.

I deeply love Destiny and its world, and if I'm going to tell a story in that world, I want to do it justice. As I started to write the second chapter of the story, I started to feel the weight of my own inadequacies. That sounds really cheesy, but it's more or less true. I don't think I have the skill as a writer right now to pull off what I want to in this story. I still plan to write it eventually (redoing the D2 plot sounds like so much fun and I have a lot of neat ideas for it), but now is not the time.

I'm going to still be writing, but now is the time for me to practice. I'm going to leave this chapter up here, but I'm stepping away for now. The story's description will update appropriately. Hopefully, it won't be too long before I feel I am ready to come back to this story to finish up. I don't want to just finish it though, of course. I want to give it the life it deserves.

Thank you for reading.


End file.
